Matthew 25:34

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(34) Ye blessed of my Father.—The Greek is not identical with “blessed by my Father,” but means rather, “ye blessed ones who belong to my Father.”

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you.—Yes; not for Israel only, or those among the brethren who should in this life believe in Christ, had the kingdom been prepared, but for these also. For those who came from east and west and north and south (Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:29)—for all who in every nation feared God and wrought righteousness (Acts 10:35)—had that kingdom been prepared from everlasting, though it was only through the work of Christ, and by ultimate union with Him, that it could be realised and enjoyed.

Benson Commentary

Matthew 25:34. Then shall the King say, &c. — In Matthew 25:31 he had only called himself the Song of Solomon of man, but he now changes the appellation, taking the title of king with great propriety, when he is speaking of himself as exercising the highest act of kingly power, in passing the final sentence on all men as his subjects, whereby their state shall be unalterably fixed for ever. And this title adds unutterable beauty to the condescending words he is represented as speaking on this great occasion. Come, ye blessed of my Father — Here we see that while Jesus asserts his proper dignity as Lord of all, he represents himself as acting in subordination to his Father in his kingdom, addressing the righteous as persons blessed of his Father — inherit the kingdom prepared for you — Purchased by my blood for you, and all others who have believed in me with the faith which wrought by love. Does it not appear probable from hence, that they are mistaken who suppose that mankind were created merely to fill up the place of the fallen angels? The present state of good men is at best but a melancholy banishment from their native country; an exile in which they are frequently exposed to manifold temptations, to persecutions, to poverty, to reproach, and to innumerable other evils. But that they may bear all with unwearied patience, courage, and constancy, “they are given to know by this sentence that they are beloved, and blessed of God as his own children; that there is no less than an eternal kingdom prepared for them, even from the foundation of the world; and that they are the undoubted heirs of this eternal kingdom. Well may such bear with the violence of their oppressors, knowing what an exceeding and eternal weight of glory awaits them!” Macknight.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:31-46 This is a description of the last judgment. It is as an explanation of the former parables. There is a judgment to come, in which every man shall be sentenced to a state of everlasting happiness, or misery. Christ shall come, not only in the glory of his Father, but in his own glory, as Mediator. The wicked and godly here dwell together, in the same cities, churches, families, and are not always to be known the one from the other; such are the weaknesses of saints, such the hypocrisies of sinners; and death takes both: but in that day they will be parted for ever. Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd; he will shortly distinguish between those that are his, and those that are not. All other distinctions will be done away; but the great one between saints and sinners, holy and unholy, will remain for ever. The happiness the saints shall possess is very great. It is a kingdom; the most valuable possession on earth; yet this is but a faint resemblance of the blessed state of the saints in heaven. It is a kingdom prepared. The Father provided it for them in the greatness of his wisdom and power; the Son purchased it for them; and the blessed Spirit, in preparing them for the kingdom, is preparing it for them. It is prepared for them: it is in all points adapted to the new nature of a sanctified soul. It is prepared from the foundation of the world. This happiness was for the saints, and they for it, from all eternity. They shall come and inherit it. What we inherit is not got by ourselves. It is God that makes heirs of heaven. We are not to suppose that acts of bounty will entitle to eternal happiness. Good works done for God's sake, through Jesus Christ, are here noticed as marking the character of believers made holy by the Spirit of Christ, and as the effects of grace bestowed on those who do them. The wicked in this world were often called to come to Christ for life and rest, but they turned from his calls; and justly are those bid to depart from Christ, that would not come to him. Condemned sinners will in vain offer excuses. The punishment of the wicked will be an everlasting punishment; their state cannot be altered. Thus life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, are set before us, that we may choose our way, and as our way so shall our end be.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The King - That is, the Lord Jesus, the King of Zion and of the universe, now acting as Judge, Luke 19:38; John 18:37; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16.

Blessed of my Father - Made happy or raised to felicity by my Father. See the notes at Matthew 5:3.

Inherit the kingdom - Receive "as heirs" the kingdom, or be received there as the sons of God. Christians are often called heirs of God, Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:6-7; Hebrews 1:14; 1 John 3:2.

Prepared for you ... - That is, "designed" for you, or appointed for you. The phrase "from the foundation of the world" is used to denote that this was appointed for them in the beginning; that God has no new plan; that the rewards which he will now confer on them he always intended to confer. Christ says to the righteous that the kingdom was prepared for "them." Of course, God meant to confer it on "them." They were individuals, and it follows that He intended to bestow His salvation on them as individuals. Accordingly, the salvation of His people is universally represented as the result of the free gift of God, according to His own pleasure, bestowed on individuals, and by a plan which is eternal, Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:4-5, Ephesians 1:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; John 6:37. This is right and consistent with justice; because:

1. All people are by nature equally undeserving.

2. Bestowing favors on one does not do injustice to another, where neither deserves favor. Pardoning one criminal is not injuring another. Bestowing great talents on Locke, Newton, or Paul did not injure me.

3. If it is right for God to give eternal life to his people, or to admit them to heaven, it was right to "determine" to do it, which is but another way of saying that God resolved from all eternity to "do right."

4. Those who perish choose the paths which lead to death, and will not be saved by the merits of Jesus. No blame can be charged on God if he does not save them against their will, John 5:40; Mark 16:15-16.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

34. Then shall the King—Magnificent title, here for the first and only time, save in parabolical language, given to Himself by the Lord Jesus, and that on the eve of His deepest humiliation! It is to intimate that in then addressing the heirs of the kingdom, He will put on all His regal majesty.

say unto them on his right hand, Come—the same sweet word with which He had so long invited all the weary and heavy laden to come unto Him for rest. Now it is addressed exclusively to such as have come and found rest. It is still, "Come," and to "rest" too; but to rest in a higher style, and in another region.

ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world—The whole story of this their blessedness is given by the apostle, in words which seem but an expression of these: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." They were chosen from everlasting to the possession and enjoyment of all spiritual blessings in Christ, and so chosen in order to be holy and blameless in love. This is the holy love whose practical manifestations the King is about to recount in detail; and thus we see that their whole life of love to Christ is the fruit of an eternal purpose of love to them in Christ.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The King, that is, he who was before called the Son of man, who shall then sit on the throne of his glory; he shall say to his saints, to those on his right hand, those whom he designs to honour and to favour,

Come, ye blessed of my Father; you whom my Father hath blessed with all spiritual blessings in me, who were also blessed in his eternal thoughts: for there was a kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; you have not purchased it by your works; no, it was prepared for you before ever you were. You were blessed in my Father’s eternal thoughts, so he prepared a kingdom for you; and you have been blessed since with all spiritual blessings through me, so you are now prepared for it. Therefore come and now inherit it, as that which you are foreordained and born unto, as that which is freely given you, not purchased by you.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,.... Before Christ is called "the son of man", now "the king"; who is not only king of saints, but king of the whole world; the king of kings, and lord of lords, the judge of all the earth; he appearing in glory and majesty, sitting on a throne of glory, being attended with his glorious angels, and all nations gathered before him, waiting for the final sentence to be pronounced upon them by him; and who accordingly begins with those on his right hand, his sheep, the chosen, redeemed, and called of God, saying to them,

come. The Arabic version adds, "to me": by such a phrase he sometimes had invited, and encouraged poor sensible sinners: to come and partake of his grace: and here by it he calls the righteous, and bespeaks them in the most tender and endearing manner, and yet with the majesty of a king, and the authority of a judge, to come near unto him, with intrepidity and confidence, and take possession of a glorious kingdom; bestowing on them this high and illustrious character,

ye blessed of my Father: so called, partly because they were his Father's, not only by creation, but by his choice of them to grace and glory, and therefore most happy and blessed; and partly, because, as such a choice shows, they were dear unto him, highly in his favour, and loved by him with an everlasting love; as also, because they were blessed by him as the Father of Christ, and theirs, with all the spiritual blessings of the everlasting covenant in him; with the pardon of their sins, the justification of their persons, the sanctification of their nature, with adoption, and a right unto, and meetness for the eternal inheritance: hence it follows,

inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The happiness of the saints, in the other world, is here expressed by a "kingdom", because of the glory, riches, grandeur, and magnificence of it; as it is sometimes by a crown, for the same reason, suitable to their character and dignity, who are made kings and priests by Christ: and is likewise represented as an "inheritance", as it is elsewhere, being not acquired by industry, or obtained by merit; but is the gift of their heavenly Father, and in right of adoption, as the children of God, being made such by his free grace and favour, and denotes the stability and perpetuity of it: and this is said to be prepared, not only appointed and designed in the council purposes, and decrees of God, but got ready; it is a kingdom erected, an inheritance reserved, and a crown of righteousness laid up in heaven; a glory really provided and secured in an everlasting covenant, and that for you: for some, and not others; for the sheep on the right hand, and not the goats on the left; for the peculiar favourites of God, the objects of his love and choice, the redeemed of the Lamb, and that are born of the Spirit; and that for them,

from the foundation of the world. The place itself, where this happiness is to be enjoyed, was actually made on the first day of the creation, when the heavens were formed, and the foundations of the earth were laid, and the glory itself long before. The Ethiopic version here reads, "before the world"; and the Persic, "before the foundation of the world was laid"; and Grotius himself owns, that the phrase is the same as "before the foundation of the world"; and Dr. Hammond's paraphrase is, "before all eternity": for as early were these persons, the beloved, the chosen, and blessed of the Father: so that this glory must be of free grace, and not merit, or owing to any works of righteousness done by men; since it was not only designed and appointed, but prepared and laid up for persons before they had a being, and had done neither good nor evil. The Jews (e) speak of the law being an inheritance for all Israel, from the six days of the creation; but a much more glorious one is here spoken of: nearer to this is what they say (f) that Bathsheba was appointed to be David's wife from the day that the world was created; and add, but the mystery of the thing is, , "the kingdom that is above", which is called by her name. So in 2 Esdras, "the kingdom is already prepared for you":

"Go, and ye shall receive: pray for few days unto you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch.'' (2 Esdras 2:13).

(e) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 91. 2.((f) Zohar in Exod. fol. 44. 3.

Geneva Study Bible

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye {f} blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

(f) Blessed and happy, upon whom my Father has most abundantly bestowed his benefits.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Matthew 25:34. Ὁ βασιλεύς] because Christ is understood to have appeared ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ, Matthew 16:28, which fact is here self-evident from Matthew 25:31.

οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου] the blessed of my Father (for “in Christo electi sumus,” Bengel), now actually so (see on Ephesians 1:3) by being admitted into the Messianic kingdom that has been prepared for them. On the use of the participial substantive with a genitive, see Lobeck, ad Aj. 358; Winer, p. 178 [E. T. 236].

ἡτοιμασμένην] not merely destined, but: put in readiness; comp. Matthew 20:23; 1 Corinthians 2:9; John 14:2. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε λάβετε, ἀλλά· κληρονομήσατε, ὡς οἰκεῖα, ὡς πατρῷα, ὡς ὑμέτερα, ὡς ὑμῖν ἄνωθεν ὀφειλόμενα, Chrysostom. This κληρονομία is the fulfilment of the promise of Matthew 5:5, κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν. Comp. Matthew 19:29.

ἀπὸ καταβ. κ.] Matthew 13:35, not equivalent to πρὸ κ. κ., when the election took place (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20). For the order of the words, comp. Kühner, ad Xen. Anab. iv. 2. 18.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Matthew 25:34-40. οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, my Father’s blessed ones, the participle being in effect a substantive.—κληρονομήσατε, etc.: this clause Weiss regards as a proof that the parable originally referred to disciples, as for them only could the kingdom be said to be prepared from the foundation of the world. Wendt, holding the original reference to have been to the heathen, brackets the words from οἱ εὐλογ. to κόσμου as of doubtful authenticity.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

34. the King] “Appellatio majestatis plena solisque piis læta,” Bengel, who also points out the correspondence between the sentence passed on the just, and that passed on the unjust, Matthew 25:41.

Come,

ye blessed of my Father,

inherit the kingdom

prepared for you from

the foundation of the world.

  Depart from me,

ye cursed,

into fire,

prepared for the devil and his angels

everlasting.

  

ye blessed of my Father] Observe that the words, “of my Father,” do not follow “ye cursed,” Matthew 25:41. The blessing comes from God, the curse is brought by the sinner on himself.

Bengel's Gnomen

Matthew 25:34. Τότε, κ.τ.λ., then, etc.) cf. this address with that to the kids [Eng. Vers., goats] in Matthew 25:41.

Here, Come:

There, Depart from me:

ye blessed of my Father;

ye cursed:

inherit the kingdom:

into the fire:

prepared for you:

prepared for the devil and his angels:

from the foundation of the world.

eternal. (so called in ver. 46).

—ὁ Βασιλεὺς, the King) an appellation full of majesty, and joyful only to the godly; see Matthew 25:40.—τοῦ Πατρός Μου, of My Father) We have been chosen in Christ.—κληρονομήσατε, inherit) Therefore the γὰρ, for, in the next verse ought not to be pressed too much.—ἡτοιμασμένην, prepared) There is an intimate relation between this verb and the noun καταβολὴ, foundation.—ὑμῖν, for you) Therefore elect men have not supplied the place of the angels who sinned.—ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, from the foundation of the world) The preposition ἀπὸ, from, corresponds with the Hebrew מ, which signifies before; cf. Ephesians 1:4. When good and bad are compared together, good is frequently described by eternity, so to speak, antecedent; bad, by its hereafter: thus it is in this verse; cf. Matthew 25:41, and 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 2:6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 34. - Then. When the division is made, the sentences are pronounced. At death a separation between good and evil is in some sort made, as we learn by the parable of Dives and Lazarus; but the final award is not given till the great day. The King. He who had called himself the Son of man, here for the first and only time in Scripture names himself the King (comp. Matthew 27:11). He, the Messiah, takes his throne and reigns, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), Lord of both the dead and the living (Romans 14:9). Unto them on his right hand. He speaks first to them, as more worthy than the others, and as he loves to reward better than to punish. How the sight and hearing of this first sentence must awake the remorse of the reprobate! Come. He calls them to be by his side, to share his kingdom and glory (John 12:26). Ancient commentators have tenderly expanded this invitation, conceiving it addressed individually to patriarch, prophet, apostle, martyr, saint; others have paraphrased it in affecting terms: "Come from darkness to light, from bondage to the liberty of God's children, from about to perpetual rest, from war to peace, from death to life, from the company of the evil to the fellowship of angels, from conflict to triumph, from daily temptation and trial to stable and eternal felicity." Ye blessed of (equivalent to by) my Father. So διδακτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, "taught of [i.e. by] God" (John 6:45). They were beloved by God, and were to be rewarded by the gift of eternal life. This was their blessing (Ephesians 1:3). Nothing is said about election or predestination, as if they were saved because they were blessed by the Father. There is a sense in which this is true; but they were rewarded, not because of their election, but because they used the grace given to them, and cooperated with the Holy Spirit which they received. Inherit (κληρονομήσατε, receive as your lot). "Of what honour, of what blessedness, are these words I lie said not - Take, but Inherit, as one's own, as your Father's, as yours, as due to you from the first. 'For, before you were,' saith he, 'these things had been prepared, and made ready for you, forasmuch as I knew you would be such as you are '" (St. Chrysostom, in loc.). Christians are by baptism made in heritors of the kingdom of heaven, gifted with heavenly citizenship, which, duly used, leads to eternal glory. "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). From the foundation of the world (ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, a constitutione mundi). In other passages we have, "before (πρὸ) the foundation of the world" (John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4). The two expressions virtually correspond, implying God's eternal purpose, "who willeth that all men should be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). Matthew 25:34